Drive mechanism for sheet coating apparatus



Feb. 17, 1942. H. s. BELL ET AL DRIVE MECHANISM FOR SHEET COATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 25, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS Hemp J15? and/9am E/Me/m m M M Feb. 17, 1942. H. s. BELL Em. 2,273,085

DRIVE MECHANISM FOR SHEET COATING APPARATUS F'iled Oct. 25, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 12 Z6 Z8 54 5s INVENTORS Hemp 6T 5e andHar/s E/Mehn Wm, figdm Feb. 17, 1942. H. s. BELL HAL DRIVE MECHANISM FOR SHEET COATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 25, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 .NN ut Mm O m @m #i d Patented Feb. 17, 1942 h 2,273,085

UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE.

' DRIVE MnbHANIsM FOR SHEET COATING APPARATUS Henry S. Bell, WhcelingyW. Va., and Hans E. Melin, Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The Wean Engineering Company, Inc., Warren, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 25, 1940, Serial No. 362,756

4 Claims (CI. 91-12.?)

This invention relates to apparatus for applyof-the preferred embodiment which refers to the ing a protective coating to metal sheets, and accompanying drawings. In the drawings: specifically to machines for galvanizing ferrous Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of a galvanizing h t machine and driving mechanism therefor, cer-' Galvanizing machines as generally constructed tain portions thereof be ng omitted for the sake heretofore have included feed-in or entry rolls, of clearness; bottom rolls and exitor finishing rolls with Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the means for drivingthe several sets of rolls. Galmachine along the plane of line 1III of Fig. vanizing machines must be removed cccasion- 1, showing the driving mechanism inelevation; ally from the spelter pot on which they are nor- Fig.3 is a par i n k n al ng the plane mally disposed. It is necessary, furthermore, to of line IIIIII of Fig. 1; and

change the exit or finishing rolls at relatively Fig. 4 is a partial section taken along the plane short intervals, for cleaning, because they tend of line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

to pick up impurities from the bath which mar Referring now in detail to the drawings, a galthe surface of the sheets being coated. l5 vanizing apparatus indicated generally at In in- In one commonly used form of galvanizing maelude entry rolls II, bottom rolls I2 and exit or.

chine, the mechamsm for driving the several sets finishing rolls I3 journaled in side frames I4. of rolls is disposed on a base adjustable laterally The side frames l4 are normally disposed on a' of the spelter pot and includes drive shafts norspelter pot I5. Guides I6 cooperate with entermally disposed in driving relation with the rolls. ing rolls and guides I1 and I 8 are disposed be- The base and the driving mechanism thereon are tween adjacent sets of rolls in the known manmoved away from the pot as a unit and the drivner. A spangle-forming conveyor -I9 receives ing connections with the rolls of the machine are sheets discharged by the exit rolls I3. This conbroken when it is desired to remove the machine struction is largely conventional and f-ormsnofrom the pot or to change the finishing rolls. part of the present invention. This is a tedious operation, requiring a consider- The mechanism for driving the rolls of the ableamount of time. Careful alinement of the galvanizing machine, with which our invention driving gears is necessary, furthermore, after is more particularly concerned, is indicated genthe roll change has been made, in order to inerally at 20 and is mounted on a base 2| adjustsure proper ccaction without excessive wear. A able laterally of the pot I5 along rails 22 of a 1 further objection to the construction and pracsub-base 23, by means of an adjusting screw 24. tice described is that the retraction of the driv- A motor 25 drives a shaft 26 journaled on the ing mechanism as a unit involves stoppage of the base 2| in the .bearing 21, through a speed-rebottom rolls and the fact that diificulty may be ducing gear 28. A shaft 26 drives the entry experienced in again starting these rolls after a rolls II through a chain-and-sprocket drive 29,

prolonged stoppage. and flux rolls (not shown) through a similar We have invented a novel coating apparatus indrive 30. I

cluding means whereby the aforementioned ob- A motor 3| drives a shaft 32 journaled in a ections to previous constructions are entirely earing 33 on the base 2| through a speed-reavoided. In a preferred embodiment of the inducing gear 34. The shaft 32 drives the bottom ber movable independently of the mechanism for adjacent the driving mechanism 20, .and a worm driving the entry and bottom rolls, whereby the drive 31. finishing roll driving connections may be broken A motor 38 drives a shaft 39 journaled in a to facilitate changing the finishing rolls, withbearing 40 on the base 2I through-a. speed-re. out stopping the other rolls or involving any ad-v ducing gear 4|. The shaft '39 is provided with I J'ustment of their driving mechanism. More spea gear 42 normally meshing with a gear 43 on cifically, we provide a driving shaft having a gear the neck of one of the rolls I3. adapted to mesh with a gear on one of the finish- Referring more particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, ing rolls, and means mounting the shaft for axial the speed-reducing gear 4| includes a worm and advantages of the invention will become apin suitable bearings formed in the housing 45 parent during the following detailed description enclosing the speed-reducing gear. A worm 46 on the shaft 44 meshes with a worm wheel 41. The worm wheel 41 is secured to a sleeve or quill 48 journaled in the housing 45 in bearings 49.

The end of the shaft 88 remote from the gear 42 is splined in the quill 48, i. e., is slidable longitudinally therein but is held against rotation relative thereto by a key 50. The extreme end of the shaft, furthermore, has a reduced portion 5| with which a shifter head 52 cooperates. The head 52 includes a bearing 58 and a shell 54.

A lever 55 is pivoted to the base 2| at 55 and to the shell 54 at 51. The lever is normally locked in the position in which it is illustrated in solid lines by a pin 58 adapted to be inserted through a hole in a bracket plate 58 secured to the housing 45, when a hole 58 in the lever is properly aligned therewith. On removing the pin 58, however, and swinging the lever 55 to the position shown in chain lines, the shaft 88 is moved axially and the gear 42 is moved out of driving relation with the gear 43.'

The bearing 48 is slidable on the base 2| to permit axial movement of the shaft 38. As shown in Fig. 4, the bearing 40 is movable along dove-tailed ways 6|, being held thereon by a gib 82.

In the operation of the apparatus described, the motors 25, 8| and 88 are normally energized to drive the rolls ll, l2 and I8 at substantially the same peripheral speed. This three-motor drive for the rolls ofa galvanizing machine is also illustrated and claimed in the copending application of Donald A. McArthur, Ser. No. 333,476, filed May 6, 1940. Sheets fed between theguides I5 are zinc in the spelter pot l5, passing between the several sets of rolls successively and being ultimately discharged onto the spangle-forming conveyor l8.

When the apparatus has been in operation for such length of time as to require a change of the finishing rolls Hi, the lever 55 is shifted from its solid line position shown in Fig. 3 to its chain line position after removal of the pin 58. As already described, this shifts the gear 42 out of driving relation with the gear 48. The rolls |8 are thereby stopped and the rolls are free for removal .and replacement. The driving relation between the members of the bevel-gear drive 85 is not disturbed so the bottom rolls |2 may be driven continuously during the changing of the finishing rolls, thereby obviating any difliculty such as has been encountered heretofore in attempting to restart the bottom rolls after they have remained stationary for a substantial period. As soon as a new set of finishing rolls l8 has been put in place, the lever 55 is restored to the position shown in solid lines whereupon the gear 42 again meshes with the gear 48 on one of the rolls of the new set. The motor 38 is stopped before the gears 42 and 48 are put in mesh and may be stopped before the shaft 88 is initially retracted to permit removal of the used finishing rolls. Since the shaft 89 is movable only along its own axis, there is no possibility that the gear 42 will fail to be in proper alinement for meshing smoothly with the gear It will be apparent from the foregoing that the invention is characterized by important advantages over galvanizing machines as made heretofore. The ease with which the driving connections to the finishing rolls may be broken passed through the molten and restored greatly expedites the operation of changing the finishing rolls. The saving made possible thereby, in the form of increased pro duction, may be readily appreciated from the fact that the finishing rolls have to be changed at least once every eight hours and sometimes more frequently. Not only is a considerable saving of time effected but the actual operations necessary for changing the finishing rolls are much simpler with the improved apparatus of our invention than with the conventional construction previously employed. The advantage of avoiding the danger of freezing" of the bottom rolls has already been referred to.

Although we have illustrated and described herein but a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be recognized that changes in the construction and arrangement disclosed may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A drive for the exit rolls of a sheet-feeding rig adapted to be disposed on a pot containing molten coating metal, said drive comprising a motor, a shaft extending over one of said rolls and geared thereto, and normally preventing removal of said rolls, gearing connecting said motor and said shaft, and means mounting said shaft for sliding movement relative to said gearing whereby it may be retracted relative tosaid motor and gearing to clear said rolls and facilitate changing thereof.

2. Drive mechanism for a coating machine including feed-in rolls, bottom rolls and exit rolls, said mechanism comprising a shaft adapted to drive each set of rolls, means driving the shafts and gearing between said means and shafts, the exit-roll drive shaft extending above one of the exit rolls, and means mounting the exit-roll drive shaft for axial movement whereby it may be shifted to clear the exit rolls and facilitate changing thereof without necessitating stoppage of the bottom rolls.

3. Drive mechanism for a coating machine including feed-in rolls, bottom rolls and exit rolls; said mechanism comprising a shaft adaptedto drive each set of rolls, a base on which said shafts are Journaled, driving means for said shafts on said base, said base being retractable to move said shafts out of driving relation with said rolls, gearing between said shafts and said driving means, the gearing of the exit-roll drive shaft including a gear wheel through which the exit-roll drive shaft is slidable axially whereby it may be moved out of driving cooperation with the exit rolls independently of said other shafts.

4., Drive mechanism for a coating machine including feed-in rolls, bottom rolls and exit rolls, said mechanism comprising a shaft adapted to drive each set of rolls, a base on which said shafts are journaled, driving means for said shafts on said base, said base being retractable to move said shafts out of driving relation with said rolls when it is desired to remove all said rolls, and means mounting the exit-roll drive shaft for axial movement whereby it may be shifted out of driving relation with the exit rolls independently of the other shafts, when it is desired to change the exit rolls without stopping the bottom rolls.

HENRY S. BELL.

HANS E. MELIN. 

